The Final Battle: A Tragedy
by xFlyingDreamsx
Summary: Margery, Wihelmina, Shana, Yoshida Kazumi, and Yuji partake in a battle that will not only be filled with anger and vengeance, but that will prove just how strong the bonds of love are as well.
1. Determination

Yay~ Second fanfic :)

As always, updates will come every Saturday. Please enjoy :D Also, comments and reviews would be much appreciated! Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Determination**

"Fuzetsu!" Margery shouted, spreading a red sphere over the battle area.

A monster with an extremely large presence stood in front of them, radiating its energy everywhere.

The monster… was the Silver.

"Now is my time to fight back," Margery muttered, narrowing her eyes.

_Flashback._

"_No! I was supposed to be the one!" she shouted desperately, "I was supposed to kill them! I was supposed to kill everyone!"_

Her pupils shrank, and a growl built up in her throat.

"Yeah! Revenge, my beautiful assassin, Margery D—," Marcocious began.

"Baka Marco! Now is NOT the time. FOCUS!"

She threw Marco up in the air and landed on him gracefully, and smiled the smile of a killer. "You're going down this time," she vowed, "You are going down."

A purple aura of power surrounded them, and they swiftly flew toward the silver knight that stood in front of them.

* * *

Shana and Yoshida had re-done their original love-letter project, a project where they both gave a letter to Yuji at the same time, and ask him to choose which girl to go to.

"I will be waiting on the North side," Shana wrote, "Meet me there at 6:00 PM."

"I will be waiting on the South side," Yoshida wrote, "Meet me there at 6:00 PM."

Yuji picked up both of the letters and sighed.

_Not this again…_

He had admitted it to himself at the previous battle with Balle Masque while he was fighting his way through the clock tower.

"_I want to protect this city! I want to protect my friends! I want to protect mom and dad and my unborn little sister or brother! But most of all, I want to protect Shana! I WANT TO PROTECT SHANA!"_

But he didn't want to choose. If he had to, he would choose Shana, but he didn't want to hurt either of them.

He checked the time. It was 5:45. Yuji sighed again, and headed off towards the North side.

* * *

Shana was wrapped in a scarf, shivering in her thick winter coat.

_Please choose me, Yuji, please choose me._

She stuck her mitten-enclosed hands in her pockets and pulled out another loaf of watermelon bread, took a bite, and silently watched the distance for any sign of Sakai Yuji.

On the other side, Yoshida Kazumi waited with Ekaterina, bundled up just as thickly as Shana.

_I just want Yuji to be happy. I want him to be happy,_ she thought to herself, _but please let him choose me._

Then, while they squinted to see through the snow falling around them, the brown-haired boy they had been waiting for was walking into the center of town. Their eyes narrowed in determination.

_He will choose me_, they both thought,_ I love you, Sakai Yuji._


	2. Broken

Update! Sorry it came so late at night, I was watching movies with my dad ^^". Please review, and thanks for reading!

* * *

**Chapter 2: Broken**

Shana's heart thumped against her ribcage as she realized that Yuji was walking towards the North side.

_He's coming_, she thought excitedly, _He's coming for me._

Yuji's breath came out in puffs of vapor, each time floating behind him as he walked past and let out another breath. His footsteps remained frozen in the snow until another marking overwrote them.

_I'm sorry, Yoshida, I hope we can still be friends_.

He remembered how Ike had come to him after the battle was over, trying not to cry using the glint of light in his glasses to block his tearful eyes.

"_She rejected me. I knew she would. But it still hurts. You're too lucky, Yuji."_

He stopped and let out a sigh.

_Please be happy with Ike._

Shana drew a sharp breath in when she saw Yuji stop about 10 feet in front of her.

_Is he here to reject me?_ she thought in a panic, _No, no… In that case he would have gone to the South side to meet Yoshida…_

She took another small bite out of her nearly frozen melon bread, only to realize that it was the last piece. She straightened, chin up, and looked forward at the boy who had again begun to make his way towards her.

_No matter what, I will always love you, Sakai Yuji_.

She took a deep breath and looked down, then returned her gaze up when she saw a pair of shoes step in front of her.

"Shana…" he began, "I… I don't want to be friends anymore with you…"

Her eyes began to fill with tears, and her heart began to beat unevenly.

"You—You're so cruel… Yuji that's so cru— " she stuttered, voice quavering.

Then he grabbed her hands and Shana looked up, a lone tear slowly flowing down her cheek.

"I want to be more than that…" he whispered, "I love you, Shana."

Shana froze. The phrase she had been waiting so long for him to say had finally come, and now she didn't know what to do.

"I love you, too, Yuji…" she breathed, and pulled him in for a kiss.

* * *

Yoshida saw as the fog cleared that Yuji had chosen Shana. What's more, is that they were holding hands.

She breathed in, and breathed out.

_Breathe, Yoshida, breathe,_ she told her self.

Air entered and exited slowly through her mouth, and she ignored the taste of salt on her tongue as Shana and Yuji locked lips on the North side.

She didn't stop to wipe her eyes, nor did she defocus from breathing. Through the blur of salt water dripping down her cheek, through the detached sounds of sobbing and choking, through the pain that she felt every time her heart beat, she did not stop watching. Her hands hung down by her sides, and she did not think to wipe her tears. Hear heart hung heavy, ready to fall out of her and smash into a million frozen pieces on the harsh snow, but she did not turn away to save it.

_Yuji is happy_, she thought, _that's all that matters_.

She sunk down to her knees, the tears flowing faster down her cheeks, and she could not stop crying. She sat, choking and breathing and sobbing as crystalline tears rolled off her skin, swallowing salt water, and watched Shana and Yuji walk away hand-in-hand towards his house.

When they disappeared from sight, a pain that could never be described, that was so sharp and so piercing, hit her, and she fell unconscious and numb.

_Yuji is happy_.

* * *

Margery lay on the floor again, under the weight of broken buildings and tumbling rocks. It was exactly like the first time. She had again lost to the silver monster that stood before her, its many eyes blinking without emotion at her limp, broken body, twisted at angles that nothing should ever be twisted in.

Her eyes were open, and bloodstains remained on her face.

_I did not win. I was supposed to win. But I am dead now. I can never win._

Marcocious was torn beside her, pages flying everywhere, and opened to but one page.

The title read:

_The Prophecy of the Purple Silver Flame_


	3. A Message

Yay! Update! Sorry it took so long, I was really busy and I had a million other fanfic ideas that I had to write down and stuff, but I promise that updates will come every Saturday if I can help it. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 3: A Message**

"Yoshida-san!" an unclear voice called out to her, "Yoshida-san! Wake up! OHAIYOOOOO!"

Her eyes began to open and the things around her began to come into focus. Ike was standing over her, waving his hands wildly over her face, and the sun was shining brightly.

_Well, this doesn't fit my mood at all._

"I-Ike…?" she began to sit up, but her head began to throb with pain and she choked and fell back down on the couch.

_Couch? Woah, how did I get here? Where am I?_

As if reading her mind, Ike smiled and gave her all the necessary information.

"I was going to the shopping mall to buy a gift for you… Because… You know, like, things happened and I couldn't give you anything for Christmas. But then I saw you lying on the ground and I didn't know why, so I went over and it was all cold and I couldn't leave you there. So I brought you to my house to rest."

"Wh-where's Yuji?"

His eyes darkened and he turned away, bitterness entering his voice. He couldn't help it, and he didn't want to hurt her more than she already was, but he couldn't stop from saying the four meanest words he could possibly say at that moment.

"With his new girlfriend."

"Y-Yuji has… But… They… Sh-shana j-just… they…"

A single tear drifted down her cheek again. Ignoring the migraine that threatened to knock her out again, she sat up and curled into a ball and began to cry.

"Yoshida! I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to come out like that! Gomenasai~"

"It's okay, Ike. As long as Yuji is happy, I'm okay," her muffled voice was choked out of her scarf, still wrapped around her neck and coated with melted snow.

The light glinted off Ike's glasses, and he looked away.

"Eto… Here's the present I got you… I mean I know it's not the best time to give it to you but…"

She sniffed and a watery smile found its way onto her face.

"Arigato, Ike."

The sun shone even brighter, and as the present was opened, Yoshida's eyes grew bigger and bigger, and when it was fully unwrapped, her jaw dropped.

Inside the paper wrapping was a beautiful glass carving of a dog just like Ekaterina, being walked by a girl under a Christmas tree. In awe, she turned it over in the palm of her hand, and the sun shone through it casting a million different rainbows all over the room.

"IT'S BEAUTIFUL!" she cried, and jumped up to hug Ike. Just as soon, however, her skull-splitting headache kicked in and she fell back onto the couch, unconscious.

Ike smiled, but at the same time sadly wondering to himself.

_I wonder if she noticed the words engraved at the bottom…_

* * *

After Shana told Chigusa what had happened the night before, she smiled and suggested to Yuji that he take her out for lunch or to a movie (after training of course).

However, because of their distraction, training was not very productive. It went something like this.

"Baka Yuji! Dodge!" she yelled, repeatedly whacking him on the head.

"Gomen~" he said, "I was thinking… about stuff."

"Huh?" her curiosity peaked, "What stuff?"

"Nothing…"

"Well if it's nothing, you baka, then FOCUS!"

"JEEZ, aren't you supposed to be my girlfriend now, Shana-koi?"

"DON'T CALL ME SHANA-KOI DURING TRAINING!" she yelled, and then blushed slightly. "But yeah, baka Yuji-koi, I'm your girlfriend now."

"Soooo how bout you stop whacking me on the head with a tree branch…?"

"Sure, Yuj—Wait! No! FOCUS. We're in training. Whether I like you or not, training is training. Didn't you say you wanted to be stronger?"

"Yeah but…"

"I don't want to hear your 'buts'. JEEZ this is taking forever! URASAI URASAI URASAIIIII!"

"Fine… Fine but after this you have to go to lunch with me, kay?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

_Jeez. Having Shana as a girlfriend is pretty tough._

* * *

"MARGERY DAWWWWW!" Marcocious shouted from the bar table, "HOW ARE YOU THIS WONDERFUL MORNING?"

"Baka Marco! Shut up! I'm DRINKING!" she slurred.

Though she was still cut and bruised, and Marcocious' magical healing power thing was still incomplete, she could maintain quite a temper.

The boys had gone out, well aware that after this battle, Margery would be drinking 10x more than usual, if drinking more was even possible. They'd thought it better to just leave and come back in about a week.

"I can't believe I lost to that stupid (censored) again! Ugh!"

Throwing the glass cup on the floor, she slid off the chair and landed on the floor with a thud, falling victim to the effects of alcohol.

And just then, Marcocious began to glow a shining silver color.


	4. Beginning of the End

Okay… So… It was just brought to my attention by RandomWriterPerson (possibly the best critic on FF) that "-koi" is technically not an ending, though it is used in many other stories. Either way, I'll continue using it, but not as much as I do in my other stories. Sorry for the late update, and I promise that all my updates will be on time now, because all my projects are over! YEAH!

Yes, I am aware that the title of this chapter is extremely cliché, but it's interesting, so yeah.

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Beginning of the End**

A week had passed since Margery's defeat against the Silver for the second time, and she had finally sobered.

"Ane-san!"

A knock came on the door.

"Ane-sa—"

"URASAI!" an angry call sounded from inside the house, "I'M COMING YOU IDIOT."

Impatiently, she shoved open the door an, in the process, knocked both boys on the head. They fell unconscious on the ground.

"Weaklings," she muttered, leaving the door open.

* * *

"Hey, Yuji…"

"Yeah, Shana?"

"Do you sense that?"

"Sense what?"

Shana sighed, and a worried look came over her face. "Ugh, never mind… I'm going to go check something out… See you later."

Without waving goodbye, she began to sprint towards Keisaku and Eita's house.

_Shana looked so tense right then… Maybe I should follow her…_

Narrowing his eyes in determination, he quickly took off after the flame sword ninja.

* * *

"I've been sensing this for a week now," Alastor muttered.

Shana abruptly stopped running and glared at the shining pendant that hung on her neck. "What? And you never told me? Why?"

"Mmm… Well focus on it a little more, Shana. It's not normal for you to be so careless just like this. If you ask me, that boy is becoming more of an interference than he was before you guys…"

"Urasai! I'm trying to focus here!" She yelled, flustered.

Her eyes closed and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and she focused on the presence that was thrumming only footsteps away.

Her eyes opened, revealing a newfound spirit of purposefulness shining like fire as they reflected the setting sun.

"It's the silver."

"No," Alastor stated with blatant annoyance, "Focus more."

Her eyes narrowed again, and then she let out a gasp.

"It's… it's… Yuji…?"

"Do you understand now why I kept this a secret for a while?"

"Oh…"

"Shana! Shana!" Yuji called, shattering her thought process, "I'm coming, too!"

"Yuji," she spat, voice ringing with authority, "What do you know about this?"

"Know about what? Is something wrong?"

"Urasai, urasai, urasai! I don't need you to act like you don't know anything! What are you keeping from me?"

"I'm not keeping anything from you! I swear! Do I look like I'm lying?" he protested nervously, "Wh-what's going on?"

"Explain it Yuji! Explain why I can feel a source of your power coming from that house!"

"I can't feel anything! And h-how is that even possible? I'm standing right here! I haven't even learned how to cast medium level spells, let alone… I dunno… _project_ my presence to another place!"

"Why would you keep a secret from me, Yuji? I thought—"

"I do!" he said, shaking her by the shoulders, "I do! But I really don't know what's going down! You need to relax a bit, first. _You_ explain this to _me_."

The suddenly tired girl took a deep breath. _Maybe he really doesn't know…_

"Yuji," she said, curiously, "Cut off your power of existence right now. Just stop using all the power that you are conscious of using."

"Uh… Okay…" he stated, closing his eyes, "What's this for?"

"Just testing."

A few minutes passed. "Okay, have you consciously cut off all the power you were using before?"

"Mhm."

_Just as I thought… His power of existence is still at Keisaku's house._

"Alastor… Are you sure that it's his existence?" she inquired quietly.

"The exact same as the one that appears when he creates a fuzetsu."

"Positive?"

"There is no doubt."

She turned back to Yuji. "Without releasing your power of existence, I want you to see if you can sense the presence coming from the house I pointed at earlier."

He nodded, and a look of deep concentration burrowed into his face.

"I can't sense anything."

_That was expected as well._

"Yuji, go home. Please."

His eyes opened and widened in confusion, but as soon as he took a glimpse of the pleading expression on Shana's face, he silently got up and began tracing his steps back to his house.

"Alastor, what is the meaning of this?" she demanded fiercely when he was out of hearing range.

"There are many possibilities."

"Like what?" she snapped, "You are trying my patience."

"Well…"

"Spit it out! I just need the most likely one! Right now!"

"Shana!" he yelled back, playing the role of an impatient teacher, "You should know this!"

The stark realization hit her, and her fist clenched so tight that her entire arm went numb.

Someone else was stealing energy from the Reiji Maigo.

More specifically…

Margery Daw was stealing energy from the Reiji Maigo.


	5. The Empty Silver Chain

So, if you read my KWMS fanfic or Mikiseki fanfic you'd know two things. 1) I have a short story blog if you like my writing (random blobness . tumblr . com … no spaces, but I have to put them or it won't show up) and 2) Since I'll be gone for three to four weeks, I am leaving you all on the best of all cliff hangers. Which means the worst for you. MUAHAHA EVIL.

And my Mikiseki one was SO FAIL. That is NOT a good cliffhanger. You should look at it just so you can laugh at my patheticness =.=

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Empty Silver Chain**

The small, yet EXTREMELY pissed ninja shoved open the door to Keisaku and Eita's house.

"MARGERY DAW, YOU STUPID FLAME HAZE. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE REIJI MAIGO?"

"Huh? Oh, it's you, little runt. I'm not doing anything with the Reiji Maigo. What do you think I could do with it?"

"URASAI, URASAI, URASAI! Get to the point, blondie! I want to know what you're doing with Yuji's power!"

"Hey hey hey! I'm not doing ANYTHING, I swear! Get a hold of yourself, little runt."

"Shana," Alastor said, "Yuji didn't know anything either. Maybe you should believe her on this."

"Obviously something suspicious is going on," Margery said, eying the pendant that hung around Shana's neck. "Whaddya say I run an unrestricted spell for you?"

"Go ahead," Shana said, slumping down on the floor, "I really feel like giving up now."

"Woah, woah! You've never said that before! Ohoooo, is the little runt to tired?" she teased, though she had genuine concern in her voice.

"Someone's been taking Yuji's power of existence from the Reiji Maigo for the past few weeks. We thought it was the Silver at first, but it was actually Yuji's flame."

"We should first see if Marco knows something about this."

The book did not respond. Moreover, it was nowhere to be found.

"Marco?"

"MARCO, BAKA! GET OVER HERE AND TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!"

There was no response. Nothing.

"MARCOCIOUS. I'M SERIOUS ABOUT THIS!"

Keisaku and Eita appeared from the other room, exchanging glances.

"Um… Ane-san… There's something you should see."

"WHAT? I'M LOOKING FOR A CERTAIN GREEN BOOK. HAVE YOU SEEN MARCO?"

"Yeah. He's over here. Being creepy," Keisaku stated.

"Eh?"

Her high heels clopped against the ground, and Shana closed her eyes as she rested on the couch.

"WHAT THE (censored)?"

Margery's noise-barrier-breaking screech spread throughout the house, shaking every door, couch, table and cupboard.

A translucent silver flame had formed chain links around Marco, binding him shut and securing it with a large lock. There was an empty, seemingly infinite hole in the middle. A giant gaping space, just waiting for the key. The book itself was burnt badly, but only in some areas. Margery kneeled and flipped the book over.

"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SILVER. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE FROM ME."

Yuji's voice echoed through the book, as if he was possessed.

"Yuji…" Shana whispered, suddenly realizing what must've been going on in the next room. Her eyes shot open. "YUJI!"

She ran outside, only to find him squirming on the ground, writhing in pain.

"SHANA! SHANA!"

"URASAI!" she screamed, pulling her cloak out and wrapping him in it, trying to get him to stop moving. "URASAI, YUJI! I'M RIGHT HERE. STOP SCREAMING!"

"Yuji," she said, softer, "Please calm down. I'm right here."

Suddenly, the cloak stopped moving. "Y-yuji?"

She tore off the cloak.

Yuji was gone.

A blood-curdling scream resonated through the walls in the back room. Margery's scream was the most terrifying sound of all time.

And then it was cut short. A loud thump ensued, and then it was silent.

Yuji was gone. And so was Margery.

In each of their places, was a single piece of silver chain, and a note written in blood.

"THE END IS HERE."

Shana spun around, whipping out her sword, only to come face to face with the scariest thing she'd ever seen in her life.

There in front of her, stood every single Tomogora she'd fought in her life.

"We're here for you," Miriam said, hugging Friagne.

And then, they attacked.


	6. The Eating Key

YAYAYAYAY! An update! xD My schedule is hectic: water polo for two hours everyday, plus new high school homework, plus 6 hour tournaments on Saturdays, which only leaves Sundays for weekend homework…

It's a living hell.

Anyways I had hoped the end of this chapter would be more eloquent, beautiful, or suspenseful.

That's not the case.

But I want to say, for those of you who support me, I appreciate every single ounce of it. I feel like my writing is at the same level as crap right now, but if you guys enjoy it, I enjoy it, too.

So thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Eating Key**

"This is called the filling lock, de arimasu~," Wihelmina stated, reading the assortment of papers spread across the desk, "It occurs when a very powerful tomogora with a unique flame finds a mistes with a power of the same color and takes over what is within it and creates a link of chains and locks to bind something that may be of use to its opponents or to itself. The lock appears to be a black hole, and endless mouth that is looking for the key to fill it. The names have been reversed: the key that fills the lock is called the 'eating key' and the lock itself is called the 'filling lock'. They usually consume the opponent, helpers of the opponent, or the mistes it has taken over as alternate sources of security and power, de arimasu~."

Shana's voice was strong behind her tears; her eyes exhausted like extinguished coals and her hair the color of burnt hope. "How do we find the eating key?"

"The eating key is hidden within something that the opposing side usually would not dare to hurt, usually a human or a large source of existence. In order to obtain the key, the source it is hidden within must be completely annihilated past recovery. This way, the opponent cannot obtain the key."

"Is this the only way to retrieve the people who have been taken?"

"It is the only way within the information I have received, de arimashou~."

Shana's eyes flared red for a moment, then faded to black again. She knew exactly where the key would be. "What if the key is hidden within the mistes that the lock has eaten?"

"Then," Wihelmina hesitated, "The opponent must make it clear that they do not care about the mistes at all."

"Is that it?"

"So clear, that the mistes believes it as well."

Their eyes locked.

"What if the mistes figures it out later?"

"That has not yet been answered. But in most cases, before they figure it out, the mistes will turn against the opponent as well. In this case, Yuji will turn against you."

"Will he live? Will they both be released? Does it defeat the tomogora?"

"Yes."

A fat drop of saltwater landed on the wooden table, splashing across the smooth finish and landing on the papers. More and more flooded out, faster and faster, but the flame haze did not say a word, sniff, or sob. Soon, there was a puddle of water flowing over the edge, onto Shana's lap.

"Well, I guess it's goodbye then, Yuji."

Afraid to let Wihelmina see the true extent of her weakness, she went to the nearest bathroom before she began to weep.

* * *

The birds chirped the next morning, but the rain poured down in oceans, flooding the goodness out of the city and washing away the heroes, leaving only evil behind.

Shana burst through the door of Wihelmina's bedroom, eyes on fire.

"I'm not going to do this. There has to be another way."

And with that, the flame-haired, fire-eyed Shana leapt out the window and into the hungry flood waiting to drown her.


End file.
